“I join Governor Granholm and my colleagues in recognizing the need to make some very difficult decisions this year. Our next step is to take serious action and adopt programs we know will help our struggling citizens and stimulate our economy. Attracting companies is essential, but as important Genesee County projects like the Swedish Biogas initiative, construction on a new water pipeline and improvements to Bishop Airport get underway, we must be sure that every job in Michigan is filled by a Michigan worker. Through the Hire Michigan First proposal, which I sponsored last session and hope to reintroduce soon, businesses will be rewarded for creating jobs and benefiting Michigan’s working families. If we’re going to turn our economy around, we need to be sure we are putting our citizens first.”

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